Ski binding having releasable heel securing means



Sept. 27, 1960 s. e. OSBORN 2,954,236

SKI BINDING HAVING RELEASABLE HEEL SECURINGMEANS Filed NOV. 5, 1957 '14r \El l W 22 v2628 I620 l4 IO 26 I6 INVENTOR.

SCOTT G. OSBORN I HAM U i e SKI BlNDING HAVING RELEASABLE HEEL SECURINGMEANS Scott G. Osborn, 3453 74th Place SE Mercer Island, Wash.

' This invention relates to'a ski binding and, more particularly, to aheel binding independent of but cooperable with toe bindings and usefulfor securing a skiers boot at the heel to his ski.

Developments by the manufacturers of skiers equipment have included theproduction of a multitude of toe bindings adapted to secure the toe of askiers boot and operable upon swinging of the same upon a rearwardlylocated axis to release the boot toe. Under such circum; stances twistingforces that would otherwise be applied to the skiers leg throughthe forward portion of his foot are avoided and the likelihood of injuryis, of course, lessened. However, it has become increasingly popular tosecure the heel of the skiers boot to the ski through the use of varioustypes of bindings, of which the most popular and widely 'u'sedr't'ypeisknown as the long-thong. Thus, even though the toe of the boot may befree of a ski in a bad spill'ortumble the skiers leg may still betwisted due to .the fact that the heel is quitev untwistablysecured tothe ski. The latter may be wind-milling as the skier tumbles and fallsthrough the snow and bad sprains or fractures may still result.

It is among the more important objects of this invention to provide: aheel binding which will secure the skiers heel to the ski but which willrelease quickly and easily upon the occurrence of any twisting motionbeyond a predetermined degree between the ski and the axis of the skiersleg; a heel binding which will establish a vertical axis at a rearposition between the ski boot and the ski; and a heel binding that issimple and easy to construct and to attach to a ski, and which willoperate with ease and efiiciency under adverse conditions of frost, ice,snow and the like.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification I haveshown a preferred form of heel binding in accordance with my invention.It will, of course, be apparent to those skilled in the art that theprinciples of the invention as set forth and defined in the subjoinedclaims may assume different forms than those specifically shown herein.All such variations and modifications as with fair equivalency fallwithin the spirit and scope of the claimed invention I consider part ofthis inventive development. Throughout the drawings like referencenumbers will refer to like parts.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side view of a portion of a ski having my heel improvedbinding secured thereto;

Figure 2 is an enlarged plan view of the heel-receiving member securedto a ski;

Figure 3 is an enlarged cross-section view showing an anchor memberattached to a ski and cooperable plate member securable to the ski boot;

Figure 4 is an enlarged vertical cross-section view taken on line 44 ofFigure 2; and

Figure 5 is a plan view of a boot heel clip.

A toe-binding 30 carried forwardly on the ski acts to clamp the front ofthe boot B in a releasable manner to v is: Patented Sept. 27,1960

the ski 12. There are many such toe-bindings or clamps hence I have onlyshown a typical form that operates when there is sufficient lateralpressure at the boot toe to release and free the boot. It is under suchcircumstances that my apparatus, hereafter described, operates for thepurposes stated.

The heel binding shown in Figure 2 comprises the base plate 10 whichcovers the ski 12 at the heel position. Base plate 16 is preferablythickened at the ends to form elevated flanges 14 which are concavelycurved in their opposed faces to form guide ways 16, 16. Thesecurvedsurfaces are arcuate portions of the same circle and are concentric witha common-axis defined by the screw 13 anchored medially in plate 10. e

As shown in Figures 2 and 3, plate 10 and its end flanges 14, 14 aresecured to the ski-by screws '20.

The heel H of boot B rests upon heel or swing plate 22 which has amedial opening 19 to fit around the head of screw 18 which forms a pivotcenter or axisfor theplate. At the opposite sides of plate 22 areD-rings 24, 24 by which the skiers boot may be lashed to the plate.

The ends of heel plate 22 are convexly curved to match the curvature onthe surfaces 16, 16 of the base plate 10. Outstanding lugs 26 at theends of the curves of heel member or plate 22 are disposed under theoverhanging lugs 28 at the ends of arcuate surfaces 16 of base plate 10whenplates 22 and 10 are aligned as in Figure 1; In

Figure 2, plate 22 is shown swinging about its pivot to the point ofdisengagement of mating lugs 26 and 28. In

this position the binding plates 10 and 22 separate and the boot heel isfree of the ski.

Atthe rear ofplate 22 is an upstanding inclined flange 32 which acts toforce the-boot heel forward as it descends toward plate 22. I The heelplate 34 of Figure 5 has notch 36 on its rear edge to cooperate withflange 32. Plate 34 is secured to the rear underside of the boot heel byscrews inserted through holes 38.

A skier lashes his boot to the heel binding by use of a long-thong 40 asshown in Figure 1. This thong is a strip of leather anchored to theD-rings 24 and wrapped over the instep and around the heel as suggestedby the drawings. Normally the last operation in binding the boot to theski is the application of the long-thong. At

this time the toe binding 30, properly adjusted for tension, is clampingthe boot toe and the boot heel is resting flush upon plate 22.

Should the skier take a spill and the toe-binding release, the heelbinding plate 22 under torsional effects also rotates, lugs 26 and 28disengage and the ski is free of the boot. It may be seen that the skierthus avoids injury, such as spirally broken leg bones, without havingactually to do anything to free himself.

Normally the heel binding may be re-assembled, without unwinding thelong-thong, merely by centering plate 22 over screw head 18 andrevolving the plate to engage lugs 26 and 28. Of course, it may bedesirable to unwrap the thong 4t} and normally reassemble the partsofthe heel binding.

From, the foregoing structure it will be apparent that my device is usedin combination with a ski having a toe binding securing device which isoperable to disengage from the toe of a skiers boot upon swinging of thetoe about a rearwardly located axis, and that when the plate 22 rotateswith the ski boot heel and the mating members 26 and 28 are disengaged,the heel binding will disengage from the ski. This will preclude injurytothe skier caused by twisting or rotation of the ski relative theskiers leg. The disengagement of the parts is accomplished by plate 22being rotated to such a degree that the members 26 are removed frombeneath the overhanging lips 28, whereupon the heel will come free fromthe ski as boss or pin 18 is withdrawn from opening 44.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A ski binding for pivotally and removably attaching the heel of askiers boot to a ski and adapted for use with a toe binding deviceoperable to disengage the toe of a boot upon swinging movement of thetoe about a rear- Wardly located axis comprising: an elongated baseplate having inwardly projecting lug means overhanging said plate andspaced upwardly therefrom at each end of said plate, a heel platemounted for rotation about the center of said base plate at a pointbeneath the heel of the boot and removable from said base plateysaidheel plate having outwardly projecting'lug means located to engage undersaid inwardly projecting lug means when the side edges of the base plateand heel plate are aligned to secure said heel plate to said base plateuntil said heel plate pivots to disengage said lug means and meanssecured to opposite side edges of said heel plate and located forwardlyof the axis of rotation of said heel plate on said base plate andadapted to receive binding means for securing the instep and heel of theboot to said heel plate.

2. A ski binding for pivotally and removably attaching the heel of askiers boot to a ski and adapted for use with a toe binding deviceoperable to disengage the toe of a boot upon swinging movement of thetoe about a rearwardly located axis comprising: an elongated base platehaving a medially located upstanding boss positioned to underlie theheel of the boot, a transverse upstanding flange at each end of saidplate, each of said flanges being uniformly curved on its inner surfaceconcentric with the axis of said boss and having inwardly projecting lugmeans overhanging said plate and spaced upwardly therefrom, a heel platehaving a medial opening to closely encircle said boss and havingoutwardly projecting lug means located to engage under said inwardlyprojecting lug means when the side edges of the base plate and heelplate are aligned to secure saidtheel plate to said base plate untilsaid heel plate pivots about 4 said boss to disengage said lug means andmeans secured to opposite side edges of said heel plate and locatedforwardly of said medial opening and adapted to receive binding meansfor securing the instep and heel of the boot to said heel plate.

3. A ski binding as recited in claim 2 in which each of said flanges isformed with an inwardly projecting lug positioned at each end of itscurved inner surface and overhanging said plate While not extendingabove the level of said flanges and said heel plate having a pair oflaterally spaced apart outwardly projecting peripheral lugs on each endand located to engage under said inwardly projecting lugs, said inwardlyprojecting lugs being laterally spaced apart and said peripheral lugsbeing dimensioned to fit within the space between said inwardlyprojecting lugs so that said heel plate will be released from said baseplate when said heel plate rotates to swing in either direction toremove said peripheral lugs from beneath said inwardly projecting lugs.V

4. A ski binding as recited in claim 2 in which pivoted rings aresecured to opposite side edges of said heel plate to receive a thongbinding and said heel plate is dimensioned to fit beneath the heel ofthe boot.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS ItalyJuly 17, 1937

